French Radio And Television Newscasters Say 'Au Revoir' To Facebook And Twitter

from the paging-george-carlin dept

Say what you will about France (go ahead! -- that's why we have comment threads!), but it's never been afraid to look reality right in the eye and attempt to legislate around it. The French government seems to profoundly misunderstand the internet, an ignorance which has resulted in some of the worst legislation ever passed and some of the most wrongheaded judicial decisions ever handed down.

Here's a brief recap of France's legislative/judicial prowess:

Introduced HADOPI, the anti-piracy initiative better known as "three strikes," which was recently condemned by the U.N. as "a violation of civil rights" due to its ability to kick certain users off the internet if it doesn't approve of their activity. (See also: Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iran.)

I could go on and on (and on -- I haven't even made it through the first page of search results yet) but you get the idea. If there's an internet-related issue that could possibly be handled badly, the French government has always been there to do just that.

Here's the latest in a long line of intellectually stunted decrees, via Business Insider:

This week we learned that France’s broadcasting regulator had just issued another decree: henceforth, hosts of television and radio programmes must refrain from uttering the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” on the air.

Thus, a French news anchor is not allowed to say to viewers: “For more information on this breaking story, follow us on Twitter.” Nor is any television or radio presenter allowed to mention a programme or network Facebook page. If Facebook or Twitter make the news, they can be mentioned on a strictly “information” basis. But no urging the audience to connect via Facebook or Twitter to learn more, ask questions, give their opinions, and so on.

[We'll pause briefly here for a collective rest-of-the-civilized-world interpretive dance known familiarly as the "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." Additional exclamation points, question marks and incredulous expletives may be added as needed.]

No, wait! There's a reason for this! Ecoute:

The CSA maintained that any on-air mention of a programme’s Facebook page or Twitter feed constitutes ”clandestine advertising” for these social networks because they are commercial operations. In a word, French television and radio programmes cannot be seen to be promoting Facebook and Twitter as commercial brands.

“Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition,” CSA spokesperson Christine Kelly said. “This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it’s opening a Pandora’s Box — other social networks will complain to us saying, ‘why not us?’”

Really? Twitter and Facebook have competitors? I know there are alternatives out there, but nothing I would consider a "competitor" (which would presume some sort of actual "competition"). Myspace? Seriously? Maybe a half-decade ago (or longer). As for Twitter, who else is out there? Tumblr (Blogging for people who don't like writing.™)? whatihadforbreakfast.com?

So, if it isn't a protectionist policy propping up development of Le Facebeauque, what is it? Business Insider's Matthew Fraser has a theory:

The obvious answer is that regulators like to impose rules, if only to make themselves feel important. That reflex is particularly in evidence in a heavily regulated society like France with an omnipresent state...

But there is another, more plausible, explanation. Facebook and Twitter are, of course, American social networks. In France, they are regarded — at least implicitly — as symbols of Anglo-Saxon global dominance — along with Apple, MTV, McDonald’s, Hollywood, Disneyland, and other cultural juggernauts. That there is a deeply-rooted animosity in the French psyche towards Anglo-Saxon cultural domination cannot be disputed; indeed, it has been documented and analysed for decades. Sometimes this cultural resentment finds expression in French regulations and laws, frequently described, and often denounced, by foreigners as protectionism.

Without a better theory in my back pocket, I'm inclined to agree. And like any policy that ignores two of the biggest rules of the internet (and sometimes, real life itself), the Law of Unintended Consequences and the Streisand Effect, it will be interesting to see what sort of backlash develops among the French themselves. The rest of the world hardly needs any more ammunition.

France is also one of the few countries that won't tolerate "foreign words" to become part of the French language. Rarely will a foreign word become popular enough to be more or less adopted by the French language but in general, they just create their own language...
While every country is allowed to define it's own rules and laws, these kinds of rules just make them appear to be a bunch of retarded barbarians...

funny the BBC in the UK well known for not allowing advertising has on almost show follow us on twitter or go to our face book page. so I agree this is the French protecting the now dying French language.grandir et à rejoindre le monde

Not just Twitter/Facebook

Reading around on this, it seems that this isn't anything new - the regulator is just reminding news organisations of what is already illegal; i.e. news programs can't have "product placement". This sort of thing is fairly common in parts of Europe (although the UK went the other way this year, and started allowing some product placement).

Basically, impartial news programs shouldn't be using brand names (whether Twitter, Facebook, or Hoover, Sellotape -that used to be a big issue in the UK a while back) when discussing stories not related to them.

Obviously, in this case, the issue is the lack of competition - but that doesn't mean the law should be ignored... just makes it a bit silly.

Re: Not just Twitter/Facebook

We're the idiots

Seems reasonable to me. We're the idiots for allowing our news to become advertising.

It is free advertising for wealthy private companies. They should buy ads. I don't see newscasters mention TechDirt in every damn story. I do see them mention Facebook all day and night. For free. Because everyone's doing it.

A while back, every NPR story mentioned that they were talking to someone at a Starbucks. It was probably because lazy reporters kept going to the coffee shop for "real person" reactions. It came off sounding like every story was an ad for Starbucks.

Kudos to the French for drawing a line between content and advertising. A journalistic mention of a brand is fine if it is newsworthy. Otherwise, just say "check out our website for more information."

Re: Re:

Re: We're the idiots

What's the difference between mentioning Twitter or Facebook during the newscast and running commercials with paid advertising (or displaying ads in newspapers)? If anything I would be more concerned about news sources not running negative stories about big money advertisers then whether they mention Twitter or Facebook.

Re: Victory!?

You have it backwards. They are taking a stand against something that hasn't invaded. Had Zuckerberg shown up with a small contingent of nerdy programmers their would be a white flag hanging from Sarkozy's office.

They have a history of this

This isn't all that surprising when you consider France's history. They sometimes make the RIAA et al look sensible.

As you noted France is often upset by the encroachment of Anglo-Saxon cultures and language and they do their level best to try and stem the tide. Examples include creating the word "l'ordinateur" because they didn't want people using 'le computer' and frequent campaigns against the usage of "le weekend".

They get so upset about their language that the Adademie Francaise is tasked with protecting it and are very stringent and careful to keep it pure and untainted by foreign influence. What amuses me is that this contributes to the language's decline.

English is so successful precisely because it is a mongrel language. We shamelessly steal words from everywhere and are always adapting and messing around with the meaning of the ones we already have. This makes it accessible and versatile and therefore more attractive as a language. Its one of the important selling points for it and that sale seems to be going rather well.

That they are extending this wrong headed approach online should surprise no one.

Re: Re: Victory!?

Re: Please?

"Less Tim, more Mike.The way Tim writes makes me now want to skip whatever item he is writing about."

Hey moron, your browser allows YOU to make that choice for YOURSELF!! The effing story is essentially about idiots exactly like you and the French gov't, who somehow seem to want to make decisions for other people regardless of how those other people feel about the subject!

If you don't like Tim's articles or writing, then quit reading them and commenting on them - DUH!

The amount of stupidity of both the French gov't and the comment you made has just sent me over my recommended daily allowance of "stupid drivel to listen to". Great, now I have to turn off the internet until tomorrow and it's not even noon here on the left coast - thanks a lot, jackwagon!

larousse

i think the french should get on fixing their language, we don't even have a word for 'like'; it's the same as 'love'. I live in quebec, obviously in this decision we would have to defer to the motherland.

Re: Please?

About the porn link...

Well, Mole Station Nursery, Molestation Nursery... One less space, yet such a huge difference. :-)
Mole Station Nursery is actually located at http://www.molerivernursery.com/ but still uses Mole Station in it's description. :-)
There are of course many other site names that might appear different when you remove the space. :-) For example:
Experts Exchange, Therapist Finder, PowerGen Italia, Pen Island, Who Represents... Those could also be read as: Expert Sex Change, The Rapist Finder, Power Genitalia, Penis Land, Whore Presents...
Yeah, dumb domain names. :-) Maybe that's why the French prefer their own language instead.

The largest of these is Qzone with 480 million members, almost all of them Chinese. Now, with all that research behind me, it's now clear that this word dump completely invalidates the premise of this post.

I'll be sure to add a retraction that points out your helpful advice and possibly run a full correction, noting that this latest in French legislation is fully justified. With these FB and Twitter-shilling newscasters properly muzzled, it's only a matter of time before these two preferred networks fall into disuse and eventual "where-are-they-now" status.

I hope that this also enlightens our other readers who I may have mislead with my snarky bashing of Myspace and Twitter. You have my humblest apologies for my ill-informed attempt to bash France without any pertinent information to back up the claims I facetiously made.

I also applaud William for taking the lead in regards to Google's new +1 feature. I'm am also certain that the heady days of pressing FB's omnipresent "Like" button are well behind us.

[Note: to the commenter above this fray ("The way time writes makes me now want to skip whatever item he is writing about") -- you may want to skip reading this because I'm writing it. My apologies for placing my afterthought at the end of this extra-long comment, rather than before it, but as I stated, it was an afterthought.]

It's a catch-22

These companies want to be where the people are, so they build a page on Facebook and Twitter, but when they send people there, they give the sites more traffic.
Should private sites like Facebook and Twitter get this kind of free advertising and traffic? No, but it's like telling people to visit your shop in the mall. You're trying to send people to your shop, but you're giving the mall free advertising.

But I agree with the last conclusion that this is a way for the French to stop intrusion by Americans. I'm sure the government would allow companies to promote the French version of Facebook.

"If there's an internet-related issue that could possibly be handled badly, the French government has always been there to do just that."
Or a military related one...

In Canada (a country with two official languages, English and French) the province of Quebec (which is predominantly French) makes it ILLEGAL to list English without French, English before French, or English that is any bigger than half the size of the French on any signage in a place of business, failure too comply can result in a loss of your business license. It should be noted this applies even in private areas like offices or storage rooms and on things like garbage cans for staff use. From this we learn something we already know, French are very arrogant.

They may be arrogant but they do make good food, which is why we keep them around. They should give up (something they are also good at doing) on government, run away (another skill) from France and make food worldwide. Good money to be made there.